The present invention relates to an electric grill pan device with a separate power connection structure and, more particularly, to an electric grill pan device with enhanced power connection protection and reliable power connection.
An electric grill pan device generally includes a base, a heating pan detachably mounted to the base, and an electric heating element that heats the heating pan for barbecuing food in the heating pan. A socket is mounted on the base for connection with an external power source. When the heating pan is mounted to the base, terminals of the socket come in contact with conductive ends of the heating element for barbecuing food. The heating pan can be detached from the base for cleaning purposes. However, the terminals of the socket are exposed when the heating pan is detached from the base, causing risks of electric shock to the user. Furthermore, ambient water and dust will cause rusting of the surfaces of the terminals of the socket and poor conduction while resulting in high temperature at the electrical connection area.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,002,108 discloses an electric frying apparatus including an outer pot body, an inner pot body, and a socket. The socket includes a housing having two insertion holes. A movable member is mounted in the housing and has a guide block. An elastic biasing member is attached to an end of the movable member. The movable member further includes two slots each receiving an electric contact. The slots of the socket are not aligned with the insertion holes of the housing before conductive terminals of two electric heating members of the inner pot body are inserted into the socket, avoiding the hands of the user or alien objects from contacting with the conductive terminals. A push lever on the inner pot body presses against the guide block on the movable member when the inner pot body is mounted into the outer pot body, causing the movable member to move in a lateral direction such that the slots of the socket are aligned with the insertion holes of the housing. The conductive terminals of the heating members of the inner pot body are inserted into the slots and electrically connected to the electric contacts in the socket.
Although such a mechanism avoids the hands of the user and alien objects from contacting with the conductive terminals, movement of the whole movable member is unstable. Furthermore, the connection area between the movable member and the conductive terminals of the heating members and the electric contacts of the socket is liable to deform due to heat, such that the lateral movement of the movable member in the housing is more unstable. Further, the elastic biasing member may deform due to the heat, failing to provide reliable operation. Further, although the elastic biasing member is used to assure tight contact between the conductive terminals of the heating members and the electric contacts of the socket, the direction of the biasing force provided by the elastic biasing member is different from the insertion direction of the conductive terminals of the electric heating member, reliable plane connection between the conductive terminals of the heating members and the electric contacts of the socket can not be guaranteed while leading to unsatisfactory heat conducting efficiency and a temperature increase at the connection area.